Fiscal cliff: Republicans have no principles

There's no deal because the GOP's confused: They're against voting to raise taxes, even if that raises taxes more

BY JONATHAN BERNSTEIN

Whatís truly amazing about the issues involved in the fiscal cliff is, at the end of the day, just how easy a compromise should be.

This isnít a decision about war and peace, or abortion, or gay and lesbian rights Ė issues on which compromise is exceedingly hard to find because of the nature of the issue. A nation canít be halfway at war; abortion either is or isnít murder. Budget disputes Ė overall spending totals, and especially tax questions Ė are by nature just not like that. A few billion more for the Pentagon or a few billion less? Thatís exactly the kind of question normally solved by striking a deal.

Now, granted, even in cases where the two sides eventually compromise, it might not seem as if they will, even right up to the last minute. And itís always more difficult than just picking a number halfway between what both sides want. After all, bargaining power may not be equal; right now, Democrats control both the White House and one chamber of Congress, so they might be able to get a bit closer to their ideal point than will the Republicans, who have only the House. Meanwhile, both sides may inflate their original bids; it takes quite a bit of bargaining to get to where negotiatorsí true positions are revealed, thus allowing for the difference to be split (or for the side better at bluffing to do a bit better than it should).

But, yes, if itís just money, it should be very possible to split the difference.

So why is this one so hard? Because Republicans arenít treating it as a difference over dollars; theyíre treating it as if a principle is at stake, even if they seem to be struggling to find the principle:

1. I look at the republican party as a terrorist organization

2. The GOP seems to have the ability to get away with anything

This is what happens when a crazed political party wants to get into government simply to stop government. And low-information people keep voting for them, only to bitch about the inaction and blame it on "both sides." It's like hiring a PETA activist to run a poultry farm; they're just going to shut it down.

3. They are NOT confused

they are desperately holding on to the singular, most base "principle" that they have - keeping the tax rate for the richest folks as low as possible.

Make no mistake, if this thing were reversed, if this somehow was about getting the top 2% a tax cut and the other 98% of us getting a tax increase, these motherfuckers would be home for the holidays chugging the egg nog and totally gleeful having all agreed on getting it passed.

What has them the MOST upset, is they are totally against the wall in trying to fight against the upper income folks having a tax increase. They could care less about you, me, our families and neighbors.

5. Omission vs. commission.

They don't want to vote in such a way that they're raising taxes.

Not acting just lets them expire.

Similarly, (D) had the same kind of goofball rhetoric. Obama said he wouldn't raise taxes. Expiration of the * tax cuts, therefore, wasn't raising taxes. It was a negative decrease, a reversal of a tax cut. For many, even if taxes went up it couldn't be called an "increase."

For some shallow folks, symbols matter more than reality and words more than deeds.

Arguably that's also the way forward. If they automatically expire and the (R) do nothing, ah, well, they tried. Then they can trumpet lowering tax rates at least on some. Much of the rhetoric you hear from both sides turns on claiming ownership of the tax reductions that would follow.

Then there's also the balanced salvation of $200 billion a year (or thereabouts) from those earning more than $250k/year (families, that is) and the $90 billion/year tax reductions that'll be sure to solve the $1.2 trillion/year deficit.